Anbaric Investing $650M in Somerset Clean Energy Center

SOMERSET — The company that owns the South Coast site of a former coal-burning power plant on Monday outlined plans to transform the 300-acre parcel into a clean energy center featuring 400 megawatts of on-site battery storage and a $250 million converter to serve the offshore wind industry.

Commercial Development Company's Brayton Point LLC announced plans to launch the Anbaric Renewable Energy Center at the Brayton Point Commerce Center in Somerset, where two cooling towers were imploded last month to help the real estate acquisition and development company repurpose the industrial site.

Anbaric Development Partners estimates its battery storage project to be a $400 million investment and put a $250 million price tag on its plans for a 1,200 megawatt high-voltage direct current converter. "As Massachusetts considers harnessing more offshore wind, the right infrastructure needs to be envisioned and set in motion," Anbaric CEO Ed Krapels said in a statement.

The converter is part of the company's vision for its Massachusetts OceanGrid project, a shared interconnection point for the multiple companies competing to build wind turbine installations off the Massachusetts coastline. Anbaric announced in February that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has granted it the authority to solicit customers and sell transmission rights to a 2,000 to 2,400 megawatt wind transmission system in southern New England.

Congressman Joseph Kennedy III, Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues of Westport, and House Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad of Somerset all praised the deal, touting the economic bump it represents as well as the prospects of positioning the South Coast as a regional hub of clean energy.

"We welcome Anbaric's decision to locate at Brayton Point," Haddad said. "I am very familiar with the company and have been working with them since drafting the state's original offshore wind legislation in 2016. I know they will be an integral partner in our overall clean energy strategy for the South Coast."

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is Anbaric's financial partner and the company describes its mission as creating new entities "that transform old energy systems into more effective and resilient ones with an emphasis on clean energy."